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Facebook Agrees Hand Over Data To French Courts Involving Hate Speech

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According to Gizmodo.com, "France just scored what it’s characterizing as a major victory in the battle to curb online hate speech—one that potentially carries significant implications for privacy and free speech online." Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, and French President Emmanuel Macron held several meetings until they agreed to Facebook giving French courts identification data of users suspected of hate speech. Facebook has yet to comment on this new change in it's policy.

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According to Reuters, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg hailed France’s efforts to regulate hateful content online as a model for the European Union after meeting President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday. His comments come after the company was criticized for its failure to rapidly remove footage of the March shooting in New Zealand, from its network.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg is meeting French President Emmanuel Macron today to discuss ways of fighting hate speech and violent extremism on social media. Their meeting comes amid concerns that such content and disinformation could impact European parliamentary elections. Macron is pushing for more online regulation at an European level.

This week, Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram banned a number of far-right figures, including white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. According to Gizmodo, it was to rid itself of people like anti-Semite Paul Nehlen, Infowars founder Alex Jones, internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and provocateur Laura Loomer.

Business Insider reports Facebook is banning several prominent conspiracy theorists and extreme right-wingers from its social network. The company said the move was in line with its rules prohibiting organizations or individuals that promote violence or hate. On Thursday, Facebook announced that it was banning Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, and Laura Loomer, as well as Louis Farrakhan, and conspiracy theory website Infowars. The move follows criticism that Facebook's platform has allowed the spread of misinformation and hate speech.